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Blizzard drops DOTA name, picks up All-Stars

Blizzard and Valve have come to an agreement in the simmering dispute concerning the trademark "Dota". Blizzard will rename its own Dota-Style map into Blizzard All-Stars.

Before announcing Dota 2 as a standalone game, Valve had registered the brand Dota as a trademark at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Back in November 2011, Blizzard thus protested against this registration. In an official complaint to the USPTO, Blizzard argued, the brand Dota has been an integral part of Blizzard's strategy game community.

Now, half a year after the official complaint, Valve and Blizzard have come to an agreement. Rob Pardo, executive vice president of game design at Blizzard Entertainment, explaines: ""Both Blizzard and Valve recognize that, at the end of the day, players just want to be able to play the games they're looking forward to, so we're happy to come to an agreement that helps both of us stay focused on that."

Blizzard Dota is changed to Blizzard All-Stars

As part of this agreement, Valve will still be allowed to use the trademark Dota commercially, for example for their very own game Dota 2. At the same time, the player-created maps within Blizzard games may keep the name Dota and may be used by Blizzard noncommercially.

The Blizzard-made Dota-like Starcraft 2 funmap, which will be released in Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, which was previously announced as Blizzard Dota will from now on be called Blizzard All-Stars. According to Gabe Newell, Valve's president, this agreement now allows the two gaming giants to concentrate on improving each gaming experience: "We both want to focus on the things our fans care about, creating and shipping great games for our communities."